Hamas War

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Israel's Iron Dome and The Beit El Ulpana Cave-In

Yesterday was one of those black days  in Israel.  We were bombarded/ by attacked by Arab terrorists from the south, and the town of Beit El gave in to government pressure/bribery.

Masked Palestinian militants in Gaza prepare
 to fire rockets into Israel.Photo by AP
Alerted by a well-written headline in the Jewish Press which mentioned that the false prophet/panacea that Iron Dome hadn't done much of a job protecting the Israelis in the south, I looked for more information.
40 Rockets Fired at Israel, Policemen injured, Iron Dome Silent

The following paragraph now appears in the Jerusalem PostBeing that the article is online and not from a "hardcopy," one of the editors can suddenly edit or delete it.

Iron Dome batteries were deployed throughout the South but by the evening they had not been activated. The IDF said the batteries were on high alert and were prepared to defend the cities they surround.

I can't understand what it means. Maybe I'm just stupid.  Does it mean that the Iron Domes have been placed/parked around southern cities, but nobody has bothered turning them on? 

Israelis have been programmed to believe that the south is no longer in danger because the Iron Domes will catch and destroy any missile the Arab terrorists launch at us.  I guess it's supposed to be like the simple ball game we used to play, "man in the middle."  The big difference is that we don't get to use the missiles we catch against the enemy.

And about the Beit El deal...
Honestly, I wasn't surprised.  It's one of the reasons I have been relatively silent about the entire issue and I didn't join any of the demonstrations; nor did I visit the protest tent etc.  Post-Disengagement I'm very cynical about the honesty of our "settlement leaders."  That's the truth.
Outpost residents say agreement preventing forced evacuation comes after Prime Minister's Office pledges to build 300 homes in Beit El settlement, change policy on removal of settler homes on private Palestinian property.
After a late meeting Tuesday night residents of five apartment buildings in Ulpana outpost, located on the outskirts of the West Bank settlement of Beit El, agreed to voluntarily evacuate their homes by July 1. (complete article)
One of the most bitter lessons we learned from Disengagement was that the aim of the official "settle leadership" was to pacify the residents and keep the anti-Disengagement activists busy with useless activities which could be controlled and stopped easily by government forces.  Sad, but true.

Well, to wind this up, in some ways you can compare the Iron Dome with "settler leaders."  Nu, what do you think?

6 comments:

Leah said...

I think what gets me most is: We need to realize it is Hashem who provides us with safety.

Eliyahu S. said...

The problem with Iron Dome is economic - using a million dollar missile to shoot down a mortar costing a couple of hundred dollars, or a homemade rocket costing maybe a thousand dollars. They don't turn it on all of the time, because if they know that the Kassam or whatever will land in an empty field anyway, they don't want to throw a crystal goblet to swat the fly that's not bothering anyone.

Also, there are a lot more cheap missiles stockpiled in Gaza than there are fancy Arrow rockets stockpiled in Israel, so the system could easily be saturated with mortars and Kassams, and then when we've fired all the Arrows at them, they can start launching Grads and Scuds at a wide-open system.

NormanF said...

I don't think the Beit El residents had much choice.

Nothing would have delighted anti-Semites and Israel haters more than the sight of Jews fighting Jews.

The new agreement is not the best. In a normal country, the government would have compensated the previous owners and the residents could be allowed to stay were they where. That is just common sense.

But in Israel Jewish logic requires looking for the most expensive, time consuming and heartless solution possible. Jews believe in "Gemilut Chasadim" - too bad they don't practice what they preach among their own people.

If Jews can't treat each other decently, how can they be a light to the nations? I'd like to see some good come of the Ulpana Affair but I'm not holding my breath waiting for Israel's politicians to redeem their broken promises to people they've betrayed.

Stay tuned.

Batya said...

Leah, hishtadlut. G-d provides "matching funds." We must make efforts.
Eliyahu, cost effective security, how sad.
Norman, yes "Stay tuned."

Hadassa said...

Shalom!
Is the sight of Jews fighting Jews any worse than the sight of Jews throwing other Jews out of their homes, even if the expellees go quietly? We have to do what is right and not concern ourselves with what people who hate us will think. Abandoning land in Israel is a huge desecration of G-d's name. Shouldn't we be most concerned with what He commanded us to do?

Batya said...

Hadassa, I agree with you.